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Have you ever wanted to earn some extra money, but are too young to get a full job? Or do you just simply love to watch young children? Then this is the article for you!

Steps

Part 1

Starting Your Business

1

Obtain permission from your parents. This is a crucial step as babysitting is an important job that requires your parents' support and approval. Throughout the conversation, it is important to remain open to communication and suggestions so that you display maturity and a sense of responsibility. They may wish to discuss responsibilities and consequences with you. Additionally, they might address concerns about your age and amount of preparation for giving care to others. With your parents' assistance, you may also be able to set up plan and schedule for babysitting.

2

Gather references and recommendations. You can start by encouraging your parents, relatives, and other social circles to recommend you to people in need of a babysitter. Furthermore, you could set up posters or business cards on various community boards that advertise your service. If you wish to expand your babysitting business, you can consider visiting babysitting websites and submitting applications to jobs.

3

Take a babysitting course. Before selecting one, it is recommended that you perform careful research, ensuring that you will receive quality education. In order to be prepared for various situations, you should receive effective training and learn necessary skills, such as CPR. Look for well-known courses with good reputations (ex: Red Cross), and be certain that they offer essential, valuable information. You will not only be well-equipped for babysitting but also win the approval of parents, who will feel better about leaving their children with you.

Use a search engine to search for "Red Cross Babysitters Training," "Safe Sitter", and other babysitting courses in your area. "Safe Sitter" is recommended because it not only gives you medical training but also includes a wide variety of important information. They present you with a certificate, safety kit, and a manual that you can refer to.

4

Choose a name for your business. Be sure that it is unique but simple enough that people will easily remember it. You can also create business cards so that you can easily present them to people. It is recommended that you type them so that it reflects professionalism.

5

Choose the age range that you want to babysit. Ensuring that you are comfortable with the age is essential so that you may perform well. For instance, you may feel that younger children are difficult to care for, or you may think that you are too close in age to your clients. In those cases, it is important to acknowledge your discomfort and reject those jobs. If you have selected an age range but wish to alter it, remember that you have the right to make changes.

6

Decide the price for babysitting. Be certain that you charge an appropriate amount of money so that your clients are more likely to hire you. The price can depend upon the location, your expertise, and the child's age. The range should fall between five to twenty dollars.

It is recommended that you charge similar prices to other local babysitters with the same amount of experience.

If you have many competitors, you could consider slightly lowering the cost so that people are more likely to hire you.

7

Ensure that you can maintain control over a situation. It is important that you create early plans and obtain important information ahead of time, such as food allergies or necessary medications for the children. Furthermore, be sure that one of your parents will be home in case of an emergency. It is essential that you understand how to handle various situations, such as choking, break ins, fires, natural disasters, or hazards in the client's home. It is unsafe to babysit without knowledge of handling an emergency.

8

Make sure to advertise. Post fliers or make business cards. Use bright colors to get the parents' attention.

Be sure to include ages you will babysit, your phone number, and days or hours you would be available. Do not give out your address or full name yet! Some people may be looking for you for the wrong reasons!

Once you have printed all of those off, it's time to start advertising. Paste your fliers in the neighborhood or at your school, library, and so on, or hand them out to neighbors.

Consider creative ways to get your name known. Use blogs, cards, flyers, your logo on Valentine's Day candy, etc.

Don't over-advertise; pestering clients and potential clients is not professional.

Part 2

Babysitting

1

Wait for people to contact you. Stay active by offering your services to parents of children you know.

2

Talk to the parents of the child ahead of time, to figure out things about their daily lives. This includes how to discipline the child, basic food and eating habits, and rules.

3

Pay attention! Don't talk on the phone while the baby is playing. Watch them and babysit with care. This is exactly why you got the job, to watch the kids!

4

Always keep the phone number of their parents by your side. This is to be sure you can receive the right contact in case you need to update the parents on any situation, minor or major.

5

Get a list of things that the child should eat, can't eat, and are allergic to. This is always good to know so that you can put these things out of reach of the child, who may look around.

6

Be nice to the kids. Make them feel you are someone they can trust. This doesn't mean the kid does whatever she or he wants, be a little strict but not too strict! Play with them.

Community Q&A

It depends on what you're comfortable but I would advise you start with ages 2-5 because they're not as fragile as infants and not as hard to manage as older kids. There are good and bad things about every age, you'll figure out what is best for you with experience.

It depends on how mature you are, how much experience you have (like if you have younger siblings that you've watched, if you have babysat before, or if you've taken a babysitting course), and what your parents and future employer think. But the average age to start babysitting is 11-14. However, some places regulate this by law, so be sure to check that too.

Ask the child what they want to do or bring a bag of crafts and games. If needed, ask the parents ahead of time what their child would like to do while you are babysitting. Then just keep the child occupied, fed, happy, and out of trouble.

Ask the parent what they would prefer, though babysitting is generally done in the child's home. Saying that you only babysit at your house to new clients that do not know you personally may make them feel uncomfortable.

Talk to people you know, anytime you see someone you know who has kids, tell them you can babysit. Also, you can take a babysitting course from Red Cross, which will make people more likely to hire you, and you'll be more experienced. You get a certificate and everything. Charge around $8.00 an hour to be competitive but not too cheap.

What do I do if people always ask for my older sister instead of me for a babysitter?

Megan Mertens

Community Answer

People will generally choose someone older and more experienced when they can. You can let them know that you are also available for babysitting, especially if your sister isn't available. You can also advertise your service to people who don't know your sister.

No, 14 is the perfect age to start because you're old enough for the parents to take you seriously. Just be professional, get yourself out there, and you should do well. It's also very good that you're CPR certified.

Tips

Know how to cook, clean and change diapers (nappies).

Write down all the rules, health, safety and other, as the parents give them to you. That way, you won't forget them, and the parents will be reassured that you're not only listening but you're also recording for future reference.

Be responsible at all times. You are in charge of young people, so do not use this as an excuse to ignore them or fail to check on them.

Wear comfortable and presentable clothing.

Check with your parents that running your own business is okay. If they're uncomfortable about you doing this alone, suggest that you do it with a friend as well.

Exhibit a positive attitude. This will help parents feel reassured and they'll appreciate your professionalism.

Get infant and child CPR and First Aid certification. Parents will be more likely to hire someone who has these qualifications.

First time babysitting is easiest with kids you already know.

If you're under 16, it can helpful to bring along a parent or guardian for the initial interview with the people seeking babysitting. This reassures the other parents that your own parents are invested in your success and that you mean business, and it also protects you.

It would be good to meet the parent in a public place with assistance to know if it is a scam.

Make sure you have the parents phone number or email.

Make sure you’re ready for this. It can be difficult. If you're not quite ready for babysitting, you can try parent helping which is when you watch the child while the parent is doing jobs or chores.

While playing with the child be careful not to give them something they may get hurt on.

Don't be scared to be strict with the child and don't let the child get away with bad things.

If you are in the 11-14 age group try doing this with a friend, just in case something goes wrong and you need an extra set of hands.

Start off with a neighbor or close friend, maybe even a relative like your aunt or uncle, if they have children.

Always have something planned for the children to do. If you keep them occupied, they will want you back. Be fun AND responsible. Make sure you have them to bed in time, follow all rules, and always clean up. If they have fun, then you make more money.

Consider having a prize box that they can pick something out of when they are good.

While being very responsible and caring to the child you’re with, remember to have fun while you're taking care of the child.

Whether it's your first job with the kids or the tenth time, go over the rules, and make them feel as comfortable as possible.

Meet the parent and the child at the same time before watching the child alone. Know the child's behavior.

Let the parents and potential clients know your experience level and qualifications, even if you have very little!

Getting to know the children you're babysitting helps them get used to you and not miss their parents as much.

Always pay attention to the child. Especially if they are below school-age.

Be fun and know what to do in an emergency.

Warnings

Do not do any of the above without parental consent. Some people may be looking for your phone number and address for the wrong reasons!

Do not start babysitting unless you are experienced enough! You don't want to start babysitting, have an emergency happen and not know what to do

Have your parent/guardian meet other parents with you, don't just talk to anyone.

Don't have friends over while you are babysitting; it's very unprofessional and takes your focus away from the children.

Article Info

wikiHow is a “wiki,” similar to Wikipedia, which means that many of our articles are co-written by multiple authors. To create this article, 107 people, some anonymous, worked to edit and improve it over time.

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 344,304 times.

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Co-authors: 107

Updated: April 26, 2019

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Avery Dains

Jan 6

"I started a career with my 5 siblings because of this! Thanks!"

Rated this article:

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Samantha Shepard

Jun 17, 2016

"My friend and I are trying to start a babysitting business and I didn't know were to start. I always have found great things on wikiHow so when I saw this article, I chose it. It's given me a real kickstart on what I should be doing. "..." more

TM

Trinity Milton

Apr 5, 2016

"Thanks. This is a real jump start for my business. I've been looking for the right steps to a babysitting business and this article is the key! Please contact me about any new information! Thanks a lot!"..." more

OB

Ofelia Barajas

Apr 5, 2016

"Really helped me! I've been thinking about starting a babysitting business for a while, and this gave me the perfect pathway with information I needed."..." more

GB

Gabby Barnaby

Jun 13, 2016

"This helped me a lot, because I would like to start babysitting. The article told me what to do in advance, and answered all of my questions. "..." more

HP

Hannah P.

Jun 14, 2017

"I would really like to start babysitting as soon as I take my course, and this gave me a lot of helpful ideas and tips."..." more

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Phionna Samila

May 18, 2016

"It really isn't that easy to know what you need when you're babysitting. This article really helped me with starting."..." more

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Jacy Tennis

Aug 7, 2017

"This article has helped me start my own little business. I will be looking forward to using this website when needed."..." more

Rated this article:

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Alaysia Colon

May 31, 2016

"This page helped me so much. I'm 15 years old and need to make money, plus I love children. I think I can do this."

CL

Caitlin Lynch

Feb 6, 2017

"Very helpful. I mean I was really lost on making a babysitting business but now I feel pretty confident!! "

RF

Ray Frank

May 27, 2017

"I've been really nervous to start up a babysitting service, but this article helped me work out all of it."